Who he is:
Jose has been in the aerospace industry for 28 years, working on a variety of space systems that are well recognized by the general public. However, before LCROSS he has never worked on a space system with either such a short lifetime or such a deliberate end of mission. After attending the US Naval Academy, he graduated from the University of North Florida with a BSIT. After a few years turning Toyotas into convertibles, he hired on with Rockwell International working in the orbital analysis group. As job assignments progressed, he worked on programs that ranged from the Space Shuttle, the GPS Navigation Satellite System, and the Strategic Defense Initiative, along with many others. He came to Northrop Grumman after completing the design and system engineering on key projects associated with Return to Flight of the Shuttle Orbiter fleet after the Columbia accident. Hobbies have varied with time, but an abiding love of flying and sailing are constants.

Job Description:As the Space Vehicle System Engineer, he worked to complete the design, assure successful integration of LCROSS with LRO and the Atlas launch vehicle, sell off the system to the customer, support integration and test, and oversee the launch campaign in Florida. During flight, he provides oversight and support to the flight team.

LCROSS Mission Specifics:
Jose came onto LCROSS part time during the summer of 2006 working as the gofer for the System Engineering lead, finalizing test requirements, starting the requirement verification planning, and general troubleshooting. He came to the program full time in December 2006, and took over as the SV System Engineering lead after completion and close out of the critical design review in the summer of 2007.